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Satyricon > The Age of Nero > Reviews > nibblemark
Satyricon - The Age of Nero

The Age of Now, Extravolcanobolical - 75%

nibblemark, March 4th, 2009

Satyricon’s latest is their best in over a decade. No, they haven’t gone back to their black metal roots; hardcore fans of the band must face reality and accept the fact that those days are long over. Yes I know, it was hard for me too… my impulse purchase of Nemesis Divina injected Norwegian blood in my veins. That being said, I’m more accepting than most of Satyricon’s evolution. More accepting, but less interested. It’s all good, but I prefer the icy cold north winds and dark forests of old. Now they’re pursuing the same sound and style set by their three previous recordings.

At first listen, it might be hard to tell this apart from everything else the morose ones have done over the past ten years, and of course the similarities are there. The production is slick and almost industrial, harsh dissonant riffs and themes have replaced those folk influences, and everything is played with tremendous precision. But this recording differs in one very important way, namely it has a lot less... well… groovy rock’n’roll tunes (Hey, if you have a better description for something like Fuel for Hatred let me know).

The opening track, Commando, hits you in the face with machine gun speed, and makes you growl with its slow steady tempo over the chorus. The Wolfpack is somewhat less interesting, with a more straightforward riff and industrial-like passages, but it’s ok. Black Crow on a Tombstone has a simple but cool main riff, if uninspired lyrics. Die By My Hand is my favourite track. This is the selling point right here, over seven minutes, fast and aggressive, with an awesome riff. It transitions into a slower section with subtle choral passages in the background. Great stuff. My Skin Is Cold tries to be ultra-creepy, and actually succeeds to some extent, at least a lot more than any song from their recent works. The Sign of the Trident is a righteous mid-tempo headbanger, with a daringly odd, arpeggiated riff over the verses. Last Man Standing is the one track on this disc that could most easily fit on Now’ Diabolical. It’s ok, but doesn’t seem to meld with the rest. The album ends with Den Siste, Satyricon’s version of death/doom metal. Yes, it’s very good.

The Age of Nero has nothing terrible original, but plenty of speed, tempo changes, doom-like influences and dark melodic passages that actually succeed in creating a definite atmosphere and metal aesthetic that was not present in their recent work.